Just use a little imagination and come along with forkandcorkdivine.com and some of our wine lover foodie friends for Part 2 of our armchair adventure through the wine regions of Tre Venezie. No, sad to say we weren’t actually in Trentino or Alto Adige, but it was as close as we could get without leaving Southwest Florida.
Trentino-Alto Adige is in the northeastern corner of Italy, and if you didn’t actually know you were in Italy, you might think you were in Austria or Germany. After all, this region was under Austro-Hungarian rule prior to becoming Italian in 1919, and many people of that heritage live here. You will hear people speaking German, see German signs, even German on the wine labels. Germans know their region as Sudtirol or South Tyrol in English. Foods like goulash and dumplings are really popular. This region is also known for their aromatic, fresh, floral, fruity, full-bodied, food friendly white wines. Two-thirds of the wine produced here is white, but you will also find some very good local reds. Most of the wine produced here is DOC quality. Our mission to accomplish for this wine dinner event —– showcasing the Austro-German-Hungarian food and culture and highlighting those white wines.
“Benvenuto in Trentino-Alto Adige” served up a selection of really tasty wines from the region all paired up with food authentic to the area and guaranteed to compliment the wines. Dinner was lovingly prepared and served by our hosts Doug and Anita Jenkins. Anita is a world-class home cook in the kitchen, and Doug makes an excellent “sommelier”. If anyone could accomplish our mission, they could! So off to Anita’s kitchen. I can still smell that wonderful gulasch and pollo brasato cooking!!! Let the adventure begin!
Tre Venezie
Benvenuto in Trentino-Alto Adige
Saturday, May 25, 2019
Antipasti
Anita is known for dining with a French flair. She and Doug visit relatives in France often. Her dinners always begin with appetizers or in this case “antipasti” in the living room. This is the time for guests to get comfortable, catch up on news and enjoy some light dishes paired with several appropriate wines …….just enough to get us prepared and anxious for what we know is yet to come! Anita’s Trentino-Alto Adige antipasti met our expectations and more.
Pane Tostato Salato
Alta Badia Savory Bread Toasts
Alta Badia ia a cheese made from pasteurized cow’s milk in the Alta Badia Valley of the Dolomite Mountains in Alto Adige. Alta Badia is a popular ski resort. The cheese develops light brown rind after six months and is closed texture straw color inside. It’s good as a table cheese or in this case, was excellent melted in the oven on our bread.
Involtini di Speck ad Asparagi
Speck and Asparagus Scrolls
Asparagus was wrapped with smoked Mozzarella and Speck, a smoked prosciutto from Trentino-Alto Adige, then placed in the oven for about 10 minutes until that cheese was melted! This version beats serving cold wrapped asparagus hands down!!
Mortadella alla Griglia
Grilled Mortadella
We love our Mortadella sliced from the deli on a sandwich, and we know about fried bologna sandwiches, but grilled Mortadella! YES, YES, YES. Get big thick slices, cut it in cubes, grill it off for some grill marks or pan fry, maybe drizzle some balsamic on it or not, and serve it with some aioli and horseradish sauce. So easy and we guests absolutely loved it! Delicious with a glass of Pinot Grigio from Alto Adige.
Castagne Stufate
Wine Braised Chestnuts
Chestnuts are not just for the Thanksgiving stuffing! They are especially oh so delicious when braised in wine and served with several other Italian Antipasti. Good with both the Pinot Grigio and the Lagrein.
Conte Fini Pinot Grigio 2017 Alto Adige
The Conte Fini with its bright citrus fruit flavors, full bodied and mineral notes was a great introduction to our evening of white wines (plus two reds!). The Pinot Grigios were all unique.
Kupelwieser Pinot Grigio 2017 Alto Adige
Fritz Kupelwieser planted his Alto Adige vineyard in 1878. The current wines are fresh and lively with an elegant style right down to the stylish design on the bottles. The Fritz Pinot Grigio comes from vineyards on the valley floor of Alto Adige. Kupelwieser ensures the high quality of the wine by sticking to a low grape yield. The wine is straw yellow with delicate fruity aromas, subtle tones of pears, excellent acidity and a soft full dry finish. You can cellar this wine for 2-3 years. We were happy to drink now!
Kupelwieser Lagrein 2016 Alto Adige
Lagrein grapes are unique to Alto Adige and are also grown to a low yield for outstanding quality wine. The destemmed grapes are fermented for 8-10 days under temperature control; the must is kept in contact with the skins. 70% of the wine is aged for 12 months in large oak barrels and the rest in 2-3 year old small French oak barriques. It is then aged in bottle for 6 more months resulting in ruby to dark garnet red wine with intense, complex, spicy aroma and fresh perfume of wild berries and violets. There is a good amount of tannins, soft velvety body and a lightly spicy finish. You can cellar this for 6-8 years. It paired nicely with our Antipasti.
La Minestra
Tirolese Canederli al Brodo
Tirolese Bread Dumplings in Broth
What a way to start our dinner! Canederli or Knodel are typical of the Tyrol especially in the cities of Trento and Bolzano. Who ever thought little balls of bread stuffing could be so absolutely delicious! These little balls of bread were stuffed with speck, seasoned with herbs, then cooked in a rich meat broth. This recipe is supposed to have come from peasant farmers using up stale leftover bread. I really want to have lots of “leftover” and stale bread to see if I can meet the standard set by Anita. Doug paired the Canderli with two outstanding wines by Tiefenbrunner. They were both great wines and we were not unanimous in our choice for this pairing. Of course, I am impartial – I loved them both equally!!!
Tiefenbrunner “Merus” Weissburgunder Pinot Bianco 2017 Südtirol/Alto Adige
Tiefenbrunner has the highest vineyard in Europe! The Castel Turmhof Wine Estate is in its fifth generation of family operation. Sabine and Christof Tiefenbrunner produce over 20 types of wine. They have 60 acres of vineyards mainly on the mountain slopes around the castle which is on the Wine Route of South Tyrol. Our first wine was “Merus” Pinot Bianco in Italian aka Weissburgunder in German. These 100% Pinot Bianco grapes were fermented under temperature control in stainless steel tanks then aged on the lees in concrete vats. The result is a fresh elegant wine pale yellow in color with flowery, fruity notes of apples and tropical fruits, and fresh mineral acidity on the finish. I’ve become a big fan of Pinot Bianco since drinking it from Friuli.
Tiefenbrunner “Turmhof” Blauburgunder Pinot Nero 2017 Südtirol/Alto Adige
Pinot Nero (Noir) is an international grape that really grows well in northeastern Italy. It likes the cool weather and soil here. This Pinot Nero by Tiefenbrunner came from 6 acres at 1470-3200 feet above sea level. The grapes were fermented on the skins in stainless steel tanks for 12 days, then aged in barriques and barrels for 8 months. The wine is ruby red with aromas of raspberries, red cherries, strawberries and violets, red berry flavors with crisp acidity and a nice soft round finish. I could drink this Pinot often!
Primi
Pollo Brasato al Ginepro con Patate
Braised Chicken with Juniper Berries and Potatoes
Here we are in the mountains – in fact mountains with very dizzying heights – so foods that are braised on the stovetop or in the oven like goulash and stew are the norm. Anita made this classic Tyrolean dish by browning chicken thighs and then cooking them in red wine with herbs, carrots and potatoes. There were a few extra special ingredients, like the bay leaves harvested from Anita’s bay tree, and the green onions that were so beautiful on top of the simmering pot. But do not omit the juniper berries! These little berries have a piney taste with citrus overtones and are often used in European and Scandinavian cooking. Juniper berries are the female seed cone produced by certain species of junipers. They have a piney taste with citrus overtones and many medicinal uses and by the way, are used to flavor GIN! So if your recipe calls for juniper berries and you just ran out of them, you can add a tiny bit of gin to your recipe! I would never recommend picking some off your juniper tree although I know some people do just that. And how was that chicken? It was tender, the meat fell off the bone, full of flavor and paired so well with both the Pinot Grigio and the Muller-Thurgau.
Abbazia di Novacella Stiftskellerei Neustift Pinot Grigio 2015
Valle Isaro Alto Adige 92 pts JS; 91 W & S; 90 WE
The abbey was founded in 1142 by the Augustinian order of Canon Regular in the little town of Novacella in the Isarco or Eisack River Valley. Abbazia di Novacella is a huge complex including church, library, museum, gardens, convention center, boarding school, restaurant and…….a wine estate! In fact they are known for making world class white wines here. This particular Pinot Grigio started out in gravelly soil between 1969-2461 feet above sea level. Two-thirds of it was fermented and stored in stainless steel tanks and the other third in oak casks for 6 months. It had a straw yellow color with aromas of citrus fruits, peach and honeydew melons; orchard fruit flavors and tangy acidic full elegant finish. James Suckling gave it 92 points, and it was my favorite Pinot Grigio of the night.
Tiefenbrunner “Feldmarschall Von Fenner” Müller Thurgau 2016
Südtirol/Alto Adige 94 pts WE
I was so anxious to taste this wine which is the “flagship” wine of Tiefenbrunner. It was made from 100% Müller -Thurgau grapes grown at 3280 feet above sea level. The red soil is characterized by glacier rock, silty-loamy sand, white and red marble, granite rocks, dolomite and limestone. It is no surprise that the soil has a high salt content which really adds to the fruit and herb aromas of the 94 point Wine Enthusiast rated wine. Half of the grapes were fermented in large wooden barrels and half in stainless steel all without added yeast. The wine is light straw yellow with notes of white flowers and yellow fruits, peach and apricot and fresh acidity. You can cellar this wine for 10 years or more and the mineral notes become more prominent as it ages. It really delivered for me!
Secondi
Gulasch alla Tirolese con Polenta
Tyrolean Goulash with Polenta
As we said before, goulash is typical of the Tyrolean region. After smelling the aroma of it simmering on Anita’s stovetop, we were ready to taste! The diced beef was browned with onions and simmered in some more wine (of course!) until fork tender with herbs and spices and pancetta. You can serve goulash on polenta, with a side of polenta or skip the polenta and go with mashed potatoes or maybe some of our new favorite – bread dumplings. This meat was so tender and the sauce so flavorful that we were all in Tyrolean culinary heaven! And our wine pairing? This was our chance to drink wine made by one of the most famous women winemakers in the world.
Foradori Vigneti delle Dolomiti Teroldego 2015 Trentino
Elizabetta Foradori is a key figure in Italian winemaking who put Trentino and its native grapes on the map. She is considered to be one of the most influential female winemakers in the world. She took over the winery from her father in 1984 and in 1986 started making Granato old-vine Teroldego which later became their flagship wine. By 2002 she had converted the winery to biodynamics and became fully Demeter certified in 2009. She also makes natural wine in clay amphorae. Foradori is considered the leading producer of Teroldego wine.
Dolci
Bavarese alla Fragola con Budino al Latte e Cioccolato
Strawberry Bavarian with Milk Pudding and Chocolate
As if the light and creamy Strawberry Bavarian wasn’t enough to satisfy our sweet tooth for the dessert course, Anita added a layer of chocolate pudding topped off with strawberry fans and fresh mint leaves. The whole effect was beautiful and really tasty with a Tramin Gewürztraminer . We know that Gewürztraminer is a perfect pairing for Asian and Middle Eastern spicy foods, but it’s fruity and delicate floral notes went extremely well with the layers of Strawberry Bavarian and Chocolate Pudding.
Cantina Tramin Kellerei Gewürztraminer 2017 Alto Adige/Sudtirol
Cantina Tramin is a co-operative winery founded in 1898 which now represents 290 members across 620 acres in the Tramin area of Alto Adige. The town of Tramin is home to the Gewürztraminer grape which is high in natural sugar and makes off-dry wines with a big bouquet of lychees. It may also have aromas of roses, passion fruit and floral notes. It might possibly even have a tiny spritz of fine bubbles. This particular wine is 100% Gewürztraminer that came from 100 acres of vineyards 990-1485 feet above sea level. The grapes were fermented in stainless steel tanks for 10 days, then aged for 5 months. What we got in the glass was straw-yellow in color with scents of peaches and fresh cut grass over hints of white spices. Those tropical flavors of lychee certainly complimented our Strawberry Bavarian and Budino dessert. What a great finish to our dinner!
Mission accomplished! We set out to showcase the Austrian-German-Hungarian foods representative of the Trentino-Alto Adige wine region of Italy while pairing Anita’s delicious foods with some excellent examples of the wines from the Trentino-Alto Adige wine region. We had six wines from the “white wine heaven” of Alto Adige including Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco, Müller-Thurgau and Gewürztraminer plus the indigenous Lagrein red and an international Pinot Nero. Trentino was represented with Teroldego, probably the most famous red of that region.
Even more of an accomplishment is the completion of our adventure to eat and drink our way through the entire Tre Venezie while pausing occasionally to educate ourselves along the way. Between our two wine dinners, 8 adventurous winelover foodies tasted 19 different wines including Prosecco, Classico Brut Sparkling, Bardelino Chiaretto, Bianco Super White, Gewürztraminer, Müller-Thurgau, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco, Friulano (a Radikon orange), Lagrein, Pinot Nero, Ripasso, Soave (Garganega), Teroldego, Amarone della Valpolicella, and Torcolato from Breganze. We visited the Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige. We prepared and ate 18 different menu items including everything from borlotti bean and tomato salad and spring minestrone with fava beans; to frico Friulano; to porcini gnocchi, polenta and bread dumplings, to Speck and Mortadella; smoked trout, braised chestnuts, and scallops; chicken with juniper berries; gulasch to crispy pork belly and spezzatino. We served up a number of DOP cheeses: Montasio, Asiago of 3 different ages, Fior d’Arancio Blue with Orange, and Alta Badia. Of course there were delicious dolci items of almond torte with chocolate chips and strawberry bavarian with chocolate budino. Thank goodness, we had two evenings and about ten hours to complete out mission!
Once again these food and wine adventures could not happen without the participation of our friends. Special thanks to Doug and Anita Jenkins for hosting our dinner in Trentino-Alto Adige, preparing the foods and sharing their wines. My Tre Venezie adventure is complete after about 4 months of research, planning and presenting. Where to next? We have some great ideas……………….stay tuned to see where the food and wine takes us! Ciao for now.
LFRakos@gmail.com
5.27.19
